TRANSPORT SECRETARY Patrick McLoughlin has given a boost to the hopes of people who are calling for the railway to be reopened between Uckfield and Lewes in East Sussex. On a visit to Lewes, he revealed that he has commissioned a study from Network Rail which will consider the future of rail services between London and the south coast, and re-examine the case for restoring the line.

The decision to launch the study has been made against a background of rising demand which could reach saturation by 2019 unless more capacity is added.

But one group has dismissed the idea as inadequate, arguing that a new main line is needed to London rather than the restoration of a local link.

Patrick McLoughlin said: “I am alive to local interest in re-opening this line and wider concerns about rail capacity between London and the south coast, and this is why I have commissioned this study. It will help us to understand exactly what the issues are and build upon previous work that has looked at these questions.”

The study will aid decisions about the future funding of the railways. The DfT added: 'The current Rail Investment Strategy outlines funding priorities until 2019 and this work would inform any business case for changes to rail provision in the area beyond that date.'

The line between Uckfield and Lewes was closed by British Rail in 1969, while the route north from Uckfield as far as Hever was largely singled just over 20 years ago. In fact, Uckfield itself almost lost its trains after the station was listed for closure in the Beeching report of 1963, which envisaged services from London terminating at Crowborough, while confidential maps first revealed by Railnews last November showed that BR was expecting to close the whole route southwards from the junction at Hurst Green by 1970.

Since then there has a major increase in railway demand, to the point where passenger totals have reached levels not previously seen since the 1920s.

Richard Eccles, who is Network Rail's director of network strategy and planning, said: “The railway between London and Brighton is one of the busiest routes in the country and there is very little space available to run additional trains. As the number of passengers continues to grow, it is right that we look at a wide variety of options which may help provide extra capacity in future, ensuring that the rail network can continue to support and drive economic growth in the region.

“We are already reviewing the options for capacity enhancements to Brighton and the south coast corridor and this work will feed into a Sussex route study due for development in 2014. Within this we will include a review of the value that a re-opened Lewes – Uckfield line could play in meeting future needs.”

However, campaigners from BML2 (Brighton Main Line 2) maintain that reopening Uckfield-Lewes is not the answer. BLM2 project manager Brian Hart said yet another Lewes–Uckfield study would meet the same fate as all the others over the past forty years. “Network Rail’s 2008 Study proved beyond doubt there was neither a business case, nor an answer to their capacity conundrum by opening a local line.”

He said the root of the problem was the absence of an additional direct Brighton–London main line, which could only be addressed with BML2’s proposed new Ashcombe tunnel through the South Downs.

The DfT pointed out that recent moves to devolve some transport decisions to local councils and enterprise partnerships 'also give greater freedom to determine priorities, and allocate funding accordingly'.